Okay, here's the situation. Im 20 years old. I was home schooled by my mother, who had no idea what she was doing. She didn't want me in school, so she kept me home, but didn't really educate me. She taught me to read, that's about it. Fortunately I had a strong drive to learn and I read a lot and taught myself things. But I didn't have anything close to a normal education. She also was strongly against college, so I was never taught how to prep for it or given any guidance in selecting a career. And as an addition hindrance, I wasn't properly socialized growing up, so I have terrible anxiety and I don't really know how to interact with people. I know, my life's a mess.

Now that you have some background, here's my question: How do I overcome this and get into college? Where do I start? Should I get a GED or am I young enough to enroll and do senior year of high school and get a diploma? Is that even a possibility? I'm so overwhelmed. Can someone show me one step at a time how to get my life on track? Am I a lost cause, or do you think I have a chance at making something of myself?

Thank you so much for your help!

Indigo

Oh, I should add that I live in Wisconsin. Which means it's very easy to say you're home schooling your kid. The state never checks up on you, you're never tested, you don't have to prove anything or follow a curriculum. You could literally teach your child nothing and there would be no consequences. Which is basically what happened to me.

Lots of people are very successful without ever having gone to college. The BEST way to catch up on learning is to read your heart out. A starting point would be any of these books found on http://www.highschoolreadinglist.com. If you do decide to go to college, you will have a head start having read these books. If there is a subject you are interested in, try to find a book that can teach it to you, and THEN consider college. You can learn economics, accounting, marketing, real estate, politics, etc from reading. A book only costs a few dollars, but college courses can cost much more.

As far as your anxiety, just try to do one new thing a week to push yourself to overcome your fears. You got this!